These three days, no socialising for me - I'm with my cheap ticket groups. Tonight, I was at Conway Hall with CT, for a concert by the Coull Quartet. And after a mercifully calm and peaceful day, I had an easy journey - a little far to walk, so I took the bus. Curious thing happened while I was waiting, though - a young American-sounding woman came up to me, asking directions. Fair enough, except.. all she seemed to know was she wanted to head in the opposite direction from Dalston.. Well, any bus from there would send her in the opposite direction from Dalston! She left, having confused me as much as herself..
My bus was much simpler, whisking me to within a short walk of my venue in under 15 minutes. Now, they'd said they'd open the doors half an hour beforehand, and I arrived about a quarter of an hour after that - so I was surprised to see a long queue at the door! The elderly gent in front of me was explaining to a companion that all this area was bombed, only the hall survived.. To be fair, the queue was fast-moving, and we were soon inside. The reason for the delay soon became apparent - there was only one beleaguered man at the ticket desk, begging people only to tell him their surnames, as that was the only information he had! So naturally, when I got up to him, that's what I did. "Ah," he said, "the kind of efficiency we like!" and scratched my name off a list of about a dozen people. I took a free programme, and in I went.
Inside, it shows its age - it is kind of like a church hall from the 1930s or similar. Over the door, a sign proclaims that this is the home of the Ethics Society. And despite the shortlist of names, the place was really full - more so than usual, as the guy at the desk had said to someone. Seating was open, and I sat near the front. Decent WiFi, I have to say! And I didn't have long at all before the musicians came on. As the leader of the quartet explained, they've been playing there since 1978..
The programme, as someone else in the queue had remarked, was a popular one. They started with Mozart, always one of my favourites - this was followed by Debussy, a work I liked less. And so to the interval, where we could have drinks - but I didn't bother. The second half was exclusively Beethoven - always passionate, this looked something of a marathon to play. Overall, a nice, relaxed evening. And an even shorter walk to get the bus back, and a very unobliging Buses Due app that wouldn't tell me anything! I was still trying to get it to work when the bus arrived. Strangely, Google Maps initially gave me an incorrect routemap for it, then changed its mind when I refreshed it. But, you know, basically an uncomplicated evening..
The next two days are with TAC. Tomorrow, I'm headed to Whattalife! - part of the Wimbledon Music Festival, this is the story of English contralto Kathleen Ferrier. Takes place in St. John's Church, as usual.
On Tuesday, it's comedy - Holier Than Thou is a one-man show about a vicar, playing in the Canal Cafe Theatre.
On Wednesday, back with Invigorate for a pub crawl! (Oops, I mean a tour of historic pubs..) Now, that's also my birthday, so I'm sure I'll get a birthday drink! ;-)
I would have travelled somewhere foreign for my birthday, but well, that's not so much of an option these days. Anyway, I'm taking that day off work - so my boss has suggested birthday drinks for me on Thursday, as we should be back in the office by then. And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - it's easier to get Friday flights at the moment!
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